Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

Climate change in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem will increase the frequency of wildfires and alter the composition of the forests by 2050, according to a team of ecologists who modeled the effects of higher temperatures on fire occurrence. "We are following the long-term effects of fire in the Yellowstone area and encountering some lessons and surprises that challenge the way we think about fire in the area," said Erica A. H. Smithwick, assistant professor of geography and ecology in Penn State's College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, and principle investigator on the project. "Yellowstone National Park is the first national park in the world and is now a wonderful natural laboratory for studying natural processes."